Vehicle repair stations generally diagnose and attempt to repair a variety of problems which may occur in motor vehicles such as automobiles. Often, a service technician may attempt to diagnose a simple, complex, or even repetitive problem occurring in a vehicle. Many times, problems are realized using a variety of diagnostic equipment, located on site for example, or such problems can be replicated and addressed using proper diagnostic and/or repair equipment. However, for intermittent problems, it may be more difficult for a service technician to discover the problem(s) even by using diagnostic equipment. This may be, because the service technician is unable to replicate the problem(s) while the vehicle is at the vehicle repair station for a variety of reasons.
For example, some vehicular problems may only occur during certain instances and/or under specific phenomenon(s). By way of example, such incidents may include driving the vehicle at a certain speed over a period of time, accelerating at a particular RPM value or range of RPM values, driving the vehicle in a particular direction or even perhaps under certain directional forces, etc. Such intermittent problems occurring under particular circumstances may be difficult to emulate while a vehicle is actually at a repair facility. Additionally, due to a volume of vehicles needing to be serviced, a service technician may not be able to spend a large amount of time which may be required to replicate the problem.
Hence, it may be possible that the problem is not addressed properly. This may be especially true for problems that only occur intermittently or for problems that simply may not be replicated on site at a service facility. If a service technician can not diagnose the problem(s) while the vehicle is in the service station, then the owner/operator may have to return the vehicle when the problem occurs again. It may not always be feasible for the vehicle owner/operator to return in a timely fashion. Additionally, this process can prove to be inconvenient, troublesome, and/or time consuming for the vehicle owner/operator. Thus, a source of frustration may occur for the vehicle owner/operator attempting to resolve intermittent problems or problems which cannot be replicated while at a repair site facility.
Attempts have been made to address such problems using, for example, diagnostic tools utilized within the prior art. One common method, has included utilizing diagnostic equipment to gather vehicle data and to subsequently analyze the data in an attempt to pinpoint occurring, reoccurring, and/or potential problems in vehicles. This may be done, for example by coupling the diagnostic equipment into an onboard control computer of a vehicle to collect the data.
Onboard control computers have become ubiquitous in motor vehicles, as safety, economy, and emissions requirements have continued to escalate, and conventional designs for reciprocating engines, friction braking systems, collision safety apparatus, and traction control devices have proven unequal to the requirements set out in law and the implicit demands of competitors' achievements. Successive generations of onboard control computers have acquired increasing data sensing and retention capability as the electronic art has advanced. Present external diagnostic and display apparatus, known to those skilled in the art as scan tools, have been connected to the onboard control computers in order to gather vehicle data. Such scan tools may provide complex analysis of the data collected in order to diagnose problems in a vehicle.
Because of the complexity of the aforementioned scan tools, service technicians are generally called upon to not only provide proper connection of the scan tool but to also operate them accordingly. This may include receiving and processing information collected by the scan tool. In operation, scan tools are typically connected to the onboard control computer of a vehicle via wire/cable connection. However, utilizing such scan tools by skilled technicians may only address vehicle problems detected while the vehicle is located at the vehicle repair site facility. For intermittent problems, or those problems which cannot be detected at the repair facility, the owner/operator would generally not have access to such sophisticated equipment, such as the scan tool, to diagnose an incurring problem. Additionally, since most scan tools require connection and operation by a skilled technician, most novice vehicle owners/operators would not be capable of operating the scan tool to diagnose incurring vehicle problems. Furthermore, while a technician could feasibly leave a scan tool connected to the vehicle onboard control computer, the connected hard wire(s)/cable(s) could impose difficulty to the owner/operator of the vehicle during operation of the vehicle. Additional concern can develop from the scan tool being displaced within the vehicle during the operation thereof. Such displacement may also be a source of interference to the owner/operator of the vehicle. Thus, the prior art lacks the wherewithal and finesse to provide a novice vehicle owner/operator with a convenient and practical means to allow an owner/operator to collect vehicle data away from a vehicle service site facility.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus for collecting diagnostic information at the point when a problem occurs in a vehicle—the diagnostic informational data to be subsequently analyzed by a service technician. It is further desirable to provide a method and apparatus which allows a novice vehicular owner/operator to collect the vehicular diagnostic information for subsequent analysis by a skilled technician for example. Additionally, it is further desirable to provide a method and apparatus which collects vehicular diagnostic information in a convenient manner conducive, for example, to a compact and suitable design for integrating with the onboard diagnostic computer of the vehicle.